


Glain's Wednesday

by blessedharlot



Series: Glain: A Week in the Life [3]
Category: The Great Library Series - Rachel Caine
Genre: Aro Ace Glain Wathen, Background Dario/Khalila, Banter, Canon Asexual Character, Fluff, Gen, Glain Has Hobbies, No Romance, No Sex, Post-Series, Pretty Weapons, day in the life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22405870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessedharlot/pseuds/blessedharlot
Summary: Glain has a gift for two very important people in her life.
Relationships: Dario Santiago & Glain Wathen, Khalila Seif & Glain Wathen
Series: Glain: A Week in the Life [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608322
Comments: 8
Kudos: 7





	Glain's Wednesday

Glain wouldn't go so far as to call the feeling nervousness. There would be no need for such an emotion under the circumstances. She let a calm affect envelop her as she stood quietly alert in the waiting room of the Archivist's office. She kept the box in her hands, rather than set it on a surface or relinquish it to anyone.

There was, perhaps, a flutter in her stomach. She couldn’t tell if she was hungry or not.

But she did hope Khalila returned soon, and that she had Dario with him. She didn’t want to draw this out.

Glain let herself glance around the room just a bit. No need to be uptight here, Khalila’s people already knew what she was made of. Somehow she’d rarely been here at the office since Khalila stepped into her role months ago… perhaps because Khalila rarely slowed down enough to visit her own office. Glain looked around, and finally realized one last lingering change since the last Archivist that she hadn’t worked out before. It was the automatons. They looked less threatening. Glain had no doubt they were still just as deadly as ever. But just now, they didn’t glower at her, even a little. She wondered if she was on a special list, or if they treated everyone differently now. Glain tried to picture Khalila giving the order to Eskander, and what exactly the order would be. Glain could imagine her requiring her automatons to have 37% less resting menace than they kept on hand for their last boss.

Khalila’s voice then echoed through the space, as though Glain’s imagination had conjured it… though it became clear that wasn’t the case an instant later when Dario’s voice followed. Glain wouldn’t have conjured him.

_Cut him some slack, Glain_ , she thought to herself. _Very, very soon, he’ll be not only your adopted brother, but your adopted brother-in-law as well._

_That’s two separate relationships I didn’t choose with him,_ Glain thought with a wry chuckle.

“Wathen.” Dario noticed her first. “Always sort of a pleasure.”

“Santiago,” Glain replied. “That’s a lovely outfit. Did your much more successful wife-to-be purchase it for you?”

Dario give her his customary smile-snarl, their own version of resting menace.

“You two will stop pretending you hate each other at some point, won’t you?” Khalila leaned in and pressed her cheek to Glain’s, then ushered them inside her office.

“What fun would that be?” They replied in accidental unison.

Glain and Dario exchanged furrowed eyebrows, and she changed the subject before Khalila came up with any demands that required her to be nice to him.

“How are final preparations for the wedding coming?” Glain asked instead.

That popped Dario’s brows up, and he pointed softly to Khalila, while Khalila gave her an only slightly diplomatic sigh of frustration.

“I love my parents very much,” she said, nodding.

Glain suppressed a chuckle. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

“Thank you so much for asking, Glain, but I definitely don’t want to talk about it.”

“Of course.”

“You, however, do have a topic to discuss,” Khalila said, redirecting smoothly. “Something you said you needed both of us to address. Does it have anything to do with the beautiful box in your hands?”

Glain looked down at the box, and there was that small tilt to her stomach again. Maybe she should eat after this. “It does involve this box in my hands, surprisingly enough,” she said.

“Would you care to get more comfortable?” Khalila pointed to her sitting area.

The previous Archivist had shaped this room as a weapon, the furniture meant only to intimidate others and put him at ease. Khalila had somehow shifted the same space into a kind and inviting atmosphere, while still keeping an aura of dignity and power about it.

“I’d love to get more comfortable,” Glain said, as they all floated over to cozy-looking seats around a low table. “I do admire the sense of hospitality you brought to this room.”

“That’s Dario’s doing. He designed and decorated this space,” Khalila said, pouring tea for them all.

Glain glanced his way, and Dario shrugged.

“It was nothing,” he said, flopping down on a long couch. “I thought of what my parents would do, and then usually made the opposite decision.”

“You’re a credit to your fiancee,” Glain said.

“I try to be,” Dario said, staring at the ceiling.

“Well,” Glain said, drawing in a deeper, louder breath than she intended. “This is your wedding present.” Her voice sounded small to her.

Khalila’s eyes widened with excitement as Dario slowly sat back up.

“Glain,” Khalila insisted, diplomatically. “You didn’t have to. Your presence-”

“Yes, yes, family, we love her,” Dario said mischievously. “ _Open_ it, flower. I want to see my present.”

Khalila pulled the box in front of her while Dario dropped himself onto the arm of her chair. Khalila ran her hands lovingly across the top of the box -- a polished wood case with an inlaid pattern reminiscent of a chessboard.

“Did you make this?” Khalila said. “It’s beautiful.”

“I made the shell,” Glain replied. “Certainly not what’s inside.”

Dario watched, arms folded, a silly smile on his face. Glain’s stomach lurched as though it was trying to leave her body.

_Okay, fine, I’m nervous,_ she thought. _This is a very important gift. It has to be perfect._

Khalila opened the box, and she and Dario peered inside. And both of them dropped their jaws.

“Glain!” Khalila exclaimed, as Dario swore under his breath. They both sat staring at what Glain knew was inside.

Both daggers were of a length to do fine damage, but still hang easily from an elegantly fashionable outfit. The first, meant for Khalila, had opals and a few very small diamonds on its hilt, and on the scabbard it lay in, and its crossguard was short and full with crisp, elegant angles. Glain knew she preferred a narrower guard. The second dagger was for Dario, and had several small sapphires and emeralds laid into scabbard and hilt. His had a slightly longer, curved crossguard - a flourish befitting his style. 

She could tell they had both noticed the telltale pattern on the visible steel of the crossguards… a pattern that would become much more pronounced when they released them from their sheathes and revealed the blades.

Khalila looked stunned, and intuitively picked hers up, sliding the blade free and gasping. Glain watched Khalila take it all in, including the protective inscription in Arabic at the base of the blade. Dario, though, zeroed in on the marbling in the blade itself first.

“That’s Damascus steel,” Dario whispered. 

Glain nodded.

“Can’t be shattered. Keeps its edge like no other,” Khalila said, tilting the blade in the light and admiring the black and gray pattern of teardrop waves in the cast metal. “And so beautiful. Like oil on water.”

“Only three people make that,” Dario gawked at Glain. “A single family has regained the recipe, since it was lost. They don’t share, and none are prone to flattery or blackmail.”

"Nor are they terribly fond of the Library,” Khalila added.

Glain nodded. “They’re not immune to owing favors, though.”

“Dios mio,” he said, shaking his head, finally shifting his attention to the blue and green-handled blade like a child who’d spotted candy. He slid it from the scabbard, and the swirled patterns of the blade shone.

Glain could tell Khalila was struggling with herself. She hadn’t said anything yet, but yes, it was a truly extravagant gift, considering Glain’s means. But Glain had also had plenty of warning, though the excruciating process of them negotiating these nuptials. And she had negotiated a fair price, that included calling in a debt.

This was important.

And Khalila was too polite to be so rude, even to a close friend.

“Stop your calculating and appreciate my gift,” Glain said with a smile.

Khalila shook her head as if dislodging something. “You really shouldn’t have, and that’s the last I’ll say on the matter. My… word!” 

She gasped as she finally hefted the short blade with the thought of using it, and realized the magnificent balance of it. It was an extraordinarily made weapon. Khalila looked up again at Glain and her eyes shone. She sheathed the dagger, pressed the box aside and took Glain into her arms.

“I love you dearly, sister,” Khalila said, sniffling.

“Likewise,” Glain said in reply. “Then you like your gift?”

Glain hadn’t meant to fish for assurance like that. She was certain Khalila loved it… Glain had been convinced of that from the start, actually. She knew Khalila. And now, Khalila’s joy shone in Glain’s chest like a warm day. But somehow, her stomach still lurched.

“I adore it!” Khalila replied, pulling back to wipe her eyes. “Dario?”

They looked over at Dario, who was still examining the grip closely.

“It’s magnificent!” He practically giggled. “How on earth did you afford this treasure?”

“Dario!” Khalila admonished.

“Well, I don’t want to be rude,” Glain said, somewhat aggressively. “But you two have belabored the act of getting married for a long while now.”

"She’s got us there, beloved,” Dario said, still staring at his blade.

“Dario also loves his gift,” Khalila said into the space between her and Glain, shifting the conversation. “How are you? How’s the new living arrangement?”

“It’s nice,” Glain said. “I think it was a good idea, getting out of the barracks.”

“Nic seemed so intent that you should build a life elsewhere,” Khalila said, picking up her tea to drink. “So you think he may be right.”

“It’s entirely possible,” Glain replied. “I don’t know my roommates well as people yet, but as soldiers they’re both solid and dependable. And we have a suitable amount of space. They see their lovers quite discreetly.”

“No discretion needed for you, then?” Khalila asked.

Glain smiled a patient smile. For being a pushy helpless romantic, Khalila didn’t ask after her nonexistent love life as often as Glain expected her to. 

“Well, I do try to wear undergarments at the very least, in the common space, so as to avoid the suggestion of making offers I will not be following through on,” Glain teased.

“That’s a damn good policy, Glain,” Dario said, finally tearing himself away from the dagger. “You’d be intensely popular were you to offer, I’m certain, so best keep those boundaries clear.”

“It’s true, I’d be a fantastic catch,” Glain mused.

The corner of Dario’s mouth curled up, in what Glain thought was a glimmer of respect.

It still galled her, just a bit, that she wanted his respect at all. She’d had none for him at the start, and that didn’t change quickly. She and Dario had always had a rocky road, the least alike out of any two people in their little adopted family. The common ground was slow and arduous. But there had been progress made. And, Glain grudgingly admitted, his opinion of her mattered to her. Whether she wanted it to or not.

"Are you ready for the race on Saturday?" Khalila asked, beaming at Glain.

Glain probably beamed right back at her. She’d been looking forward to this race. "Absolutely and fully ready," she replied.

"You've heard about our surprise entrant this week?" Khalila asked. "You're not worried?"

She knew Jess had deliberated whether he should enter the duathlon, debating its drawbacks and merits with the Medica team still helping him resolve his chronic lung concerns since the poisoning.

"I welcome the chance to show Jess how much more recovering he needs to do,” Glain said with a smile. “I only regret he won't bring his all just yet."

Dario shook his head. "It's still Jess in a footrace. I haven’t decided which of you I'm betting on."

"It's a footrace and a swim. And no offense to Jess’ lungs, but both of those activities require oxygen," Glain replied.

Khalila batted playfully. “You give him too little credit for all the hard work he’s done. He’s even followed Medica orders once or twice.”

“That many times?” Glain said. “Well. If I see him at the race, I’ll reconsider.”

Khalila smiled, and then clapped her hands together once quietly, a gesture that had come to mean it was time for her to move along to her next appointment.

“Glain, I adore you and I love my gift,” she said, leaning in for a hug and to exchange a kiss on the cheek.

“But you have to go do something very important, I know,” Glain replied.

They all stood, and Khalila ran to her desk to prepare for whatever came next. Dario used the empty space to approach with a hand extended.

“They’re gorgeous, Glain, thank you,” he said earnestly. “I’ll wear it frequently, and with glee, with both of you in my heart.”

“Congratulations on your nuptials,” she said, deeply happy that they would finally reach their goal. She shook his hand, then pulled him in for a one-armed hug. He easily complied.

Neither of them would have chosen to be this important to one another. And yet.

Glain used the closeness to whisper in his ear. 

“Hurt her, and I will show you your own entrails,” Glain said.

Dario pulled back to meet her gaze, and slowly smiled a deep, broad, genuine smile. A smile of respect.

Then he gave her a solemn nod.

“That deal is agreeable,” Dario said.

And they shook on it.

**Author's Note:**

> Tomorrow: Glain tries a NEW hobby!


End file.
